


loverboy

by ilydenki



Category: Persona 5
Genre: Bisexual Sakamoto Ryuji, Fluff, Friends to Lovers, M/M, akira is a LIAR to get what he wants, akira stays at leblanc, ryuji admits his love to his bff
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-11-29
Updated: 2020-11-29
Packaged: 2021-03-09 22:27:08
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,215
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27773767
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ilydenki/pseuds/ilydenki
Summary: it was the day akira was supposed to leave to go back to his parents. at least that's what ryuji thought. their entire friend group knew that sojiro had allowed him to live in leblanc as long as he wanted, but not a single person let ryuji know about this
Relationships: Amamiya Ren/Sakamoto Ryuji, Kurusu Akira/Sakamoto Ryuji, Persona 5 Protagonist/Sakamoto Ryuji
Comments: 2
Kudos: 79





	loverboy

It was supposed to be Akira's last day with all of his friends. His probation was finally over and he could head home to see his parents once again. If you weren't a part of his friend group, this would be any other day. Although, this was the saddest day for the group of teenagers. What was the most exciting year of their lives was coming to a close as they planned for the upcoming year without their friend Akira. It wouldn't truly be the Phantom Thieves without Joker, would it? They would all continue being friends, it would just take a little bit more effort to stay in touch with the one that helped them all turn out to who they are today.

There was one problem, though. Akira wasn't going home. After a lot of convincing to his parents, they allowed Akira to stay living with Sojiro. Of course, Sojiro wasn't upset with Akira staying with him, as he basically saved his daughter and brought so much happiness to everyone's life. The condition was the Kurusu parents would visit once every month and Akira's grades had to be top-tier. What an easy compromise; Akira was the smartest in his class already and he wouldn't mind his parents visiting. So, it was settled. The infamous Joker would be continuing to live in the attic of Leblanc.

The word got around, as Morgana wasn't the best at keeping his mouth shut. First Futaba got a hold of this information, as Morgana would bother her regularly. Unless you told her to keep her mouth shut about something, she would tell anyone everything. After Futaba was the all-girls group chat that she so graciously informed them about. Ann, Makoto, Haru, and Sumire all texted Akira at the same time, confirming that Futaba was not telling fibs. His first mistake was letting Futaba know out of all people.

Yusuke found out accidentally when he had come to Leblanc for coffee, striking a conversation with Sojiro. Boss had let Yusuke know the great news, watching at the young artist filled with joviality, simply astounded that he would have more time with Akira. For a boy that constantly kept a straight face, Yusuke was having trouble containing himself.

Somehow, Yusuke never got around to telling Ryuji the good news. He thought that because Ryuji was Akira's best friend that he would have found out first. Without anyone telling the boxed blonde that his best friend wasn't leaving, Ryuji was left to his own devices with coping about how his friend was leaving. Days leading up to the fated departure had him contemplating how to say his farewell. Sure, spending the day with the entire group would be fine, but he wanted some alone time with the guy that made his life so much better.

The morning of the day Akira was supposed to go Ryuji asked if they could hang out; except, he never stated that he knew or didn't know about Akira staying. All he said is that he would be over to Leblanc early and wanted to chill. This wasn't out of the ordinary, as Ryuji would regularly confide in Akira to hang out when he got bored.

Bells announce themselves at the front of Leblanc, indicating someone had entered. For some reason, the coffee shop felt dull and lifeless. It must have felt that way for weeks now, as the mere aroma of coffee reminded the friends of Akira that he would be departing. There stood the blonde outcast, feeling the tears strike his eyes. Coming to Leblanc was a stupid idea, but he had to see Akira one last time, or so he thought.

"Up here!" Akira shouted, not needing to go downstairs to know that was Ryuji who entered. The black-haired boy was sure that Ryuji had already known and this was just a normal day for the two of them. If anything, it would be a celebration for the continuation of Akira's residence. "Finishing up my game, give me a second."

Ascending the stairs, Ryuji watched as his best friend sat on a foldable chair in front of a television. Mashing buttons on a controller, Akira spent more time with his eyes glued to the screen than he did welcoming Ryuji. Morgana, on the other hand, took no time in harassing the blonde and telling him to get out.

When the game finished, Akira shut off the television, leaning back in his chair to finally welcome Ryuji over. "So, what's the occasion?" This must have been the stupidest question Ryuji could hear today. This was the day he's been dreading to live through, and Akira was treating it like any other morning. How could he have the heart to do that?

"You idiot, I wanted to be here with you before you left to go home," Ryuji sighed, pulling up a chair next to his best friend. Akira and Morgana looked at each other in shock, baffled at how the word didn't get completely around. Hell, Mishima probably knew as well, and yet here Ryuji sat, unbeknownst to how incorrect he was. Instead of correcting him, Akira mouthed at Morgana to stay quiet. All he wanted was to see how Ryuji would act with their last day together.

For now, Akira was going to have to keep up this huge acting fib. "Couldn't wait for when the whole group was together?" They sat in silence aside from the sound of their breathing and voices. It was comforting to the two of them, as they never had this kind of moment before. It was rare for them to even be alone together, as the rest of the Phantom Thieves would usually be there with them too.

There was hesitation inside of Ryuji. He was having an internal war to decide on what to say. There _was_ a reason he wanted to be here, but maybe it wasn't the best time. It might have been best to just keep this to himself for forever. He would have to come to terms that there would never be a perfect time to tell Akira what he had to say. But where's the fun in that?

"Actually, I've had something on my mind for a while," he spoke softly, cracking his knuckles to distract himself. If he never said anything this would be eating him inside for all of eternity. "You don't mind, right? If I tell you?"

Akira scoffed. "As long as you don't tell me you're in love with me." That was supposed to be taken as a joke. There was sarcasm written all over his words. Turns out the sarcasm didn't go both ways, as Akira had regretted his words as they exited his mouth.

Ryuji's eyes were struck with tears. It was evident that he was trying his best to contain himself the entire time he was in the attic, but he just couldn't hold it any longer. Akira watched in shock as tears fell right on to Ryuji's lap, leaving small wet spots. Gripping his knees with force, all Ryuji wanted was to move his attention from the sarcastic comment to what he wanted to tell Akira.

Instead of pushing him, Akira waited for his best friend to say something. The black-haired boy stood up and pulled Ryuji up with him, hugging him. Even if it was making Akira's shirt soggy, he didn't mind. It was such a small price to comfort his best friend. Akira's hand made it's way to Ryuji's head, petting him to let him know that he cared.

Sniffling, Ryuji tried his best to get words out, but all he could feel was the loud silence of his throat refusing to work. Akira shushed him, telling him that he can say when he's ready. They stood there for god knows how long, just basking in each other's company, a small circle of safety. It got to a point where Ryuji knew he could speak but didn't want to ruin anything. The feeling of being this close to Akira made him so unbelievably fragile.

"You're going to hate me..." Ryuji muttered, his chin resting on Akira's shoulder. "I thought I'd be able to say since...y'know, you're leaving." The two of them were just bundles of hurt; Ryuji unable to communicate his feelings and Akira having to watch his best friend breakdown. "Promise you won't hate me?"

"I could never hate you, you know this," Akira admitted. "Don't be scared, it's only me." Those damned innocent eyes of his, the ones that Ryuji had grown so attached to. The eyes that Ryuji can put trust in. They stared down each other, waiting for the blonde to even out his breathing in order to get a coherent sentence out.

The sole reason Ryuji was scared was _because_ it's Akira. If it were anyone else this wouldn't be such a big deal. Nevertheless, it was the blonde's best friend and the only person he would consider giving his life up for. It was the person who turned his life around and gave him a reason to get out of bed every morning. They were twin flames, burning an eternal candle.

_It was now or never, Akira would be leaving today_. The one thing motivating Ryuji to give up his secret was not even happening, as Akira wouldn't be leaving him at all. "I think I'm... You're so..." The words weren't right. Months of building up this courage and the words weren't right. They were never going to be right.

Catching him off guard, Akira moved his hand to caress Ryuji's cheek. It was softer than the blonde could ever imagine. From all the dreams he had about this moment, it would never live up to the real thing. Like he was handling porcelain, Akira traced his fingers carefully across Ryuji's skin, admiring how vulnerable he was in this moment. Wiping away his tears, they gazed at each other like there was no one else alive in the world at that moment. All that mattered was each other.

"You know I love you, right?" Akira spoke, continuing to brush his finger across Ryuji's face. "Whatever you want to say to me, I won't be upset." It was very difficult to make Akira mad in the first place, that is, if you are one of his friends. There was one time Ann had accidentally spilt water all over Akira's Japanese homework and instead of getting irritated over it, Akira had calmed Ann down. There was no way in hell Akira would get angry at his friends, he just didn't have the heart to do so.

_You know I love you, right. I love you_. He said those words without delay. Inside of Ryuji, the adrenaline rushing inside of him began boiling at an all-time high. Without any further thought, the blonde took a handful of Akira's hair between his fingers and pulled their faces together. Lips pressed together, Akira's eyes remained wide open. As they pulled apart, the atmosphere in the room had changed completely.

"You knew, didn't you?" Ryuji said quietly, embarrassed at his actions. It would be unlikely if Akira couldn't figure out the feelings Ryuji had for months. "Is that why you didn't press me for any answers? You wanted to hear me say it?" Eyecontact was the hardest thing to do in this moment. So vulnerable, so _exposed_ , his deepest secret was finally out.

A soft smile presented on his face, Akira traced his finger along the blonde's lips, admiring how soft they were. "You aren't so subtle, Ryuji. No straight man talks the way you do, _especially_ around me." He was correct, as Ryuji would make jabs to his attraction to men, although never indulging in it. More so around Akira, as he felt letting Akira know first would make him for comfortable.

It was reassuring knowing that Akira was fine with who Ryuji was. It was going to be more trouble with Akira constantly harassing Ryuji about being in love with him. Even if Akira admitted to mutual feelings, he would still find a way to bother Ryuji about it.

After expressing how upset he was that it was Akira's final day being with them, Akira found it to be the best time to break the news. "Oh, I didn't tell you?" He spoke, sarcasm clear in his voice. "I decided to stay here. Sojiro's letting me live here as long as I take shifts at Leblanc." That smile he wore was full of mischief, knowing damn well this was the start of the road to bullying Ryuji.

"Wh-what?" The blonde stuck, having trouble believing him. "Are you serious, you ass?!" Letting out an exaggerated sigh, throwing his head back in defeat. From the way Akira stood with that smirk on his face, Ryuji could only be sure that he was telling the truth. "You smartass, not telling me in hopes I'd say some secret shit!" As much as he would like to hate Akira, he just couldn't. He was more thankful than upset. He couldn't wait to see more of this boy.

Akira laughed, watching Ryuji go through the stages of grief in ten seconds. "C'mon, loverboy, you interrupted my game, let's play together."

"Don't call me that!"


End file.
